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Effect of calcitriol on the production of T‐cell‐derived cytokines in psoriasis
Author(s) -
BARNA M.,
BOS J.D.,
KAPSENBERG M.L.,
SNIJDEWINT F.G.M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2133.1997.d01-1231.x
Subject(s) - psoriasis , calcitriol , phytohaemagglutinin , cytokine , lymphokine , immunology , endocrinology , t lymphocyte , t cell , pharmacology , medicine , vitamin d and neurology , chemistry , lymphocyte , immune system
Summary Although the use of vitamin D analogues in the treatment of psoriasis has been an important new development, the mechanisms of action of these drugs are not fully understood. Psoriasis results from hyperproliferation of keratinocytes, and various studies attribute a crucial role to the locally infiltrating T lymphocytes. In an attempt to add to the understanding of the mechanisms of calcitriol therapy, we determined the effect of this drug on T cells by studying its effect on proliferation and on the production of various cytokines by T‐cell clones prepared from psoriatic skin after non‐specific activation with the combination of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). The addition of increasing doses (10 ‐9 –10 ‐5 mol/1) of caleitriol to these T cells resulted in a dose‐dependent inhibition in lymphocyte proliferation and in production of the type 1 cytokines IFN‐ γ and IL‐2. the type 2 cytokines IL‐4 and IL‐5. The general cytokines TNF‐α and GM‐CSF were not significantly inhibited. These data suggest that calcitriol is involved in the treatment of psoriasis via inhibition of the expansion, and cytokine production, of skin‐infiltrating T lymphocytes.